spillman



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

w; SPILLMAN.

Bullet Machine.

Patented Nov. 19, 1867.

ERS FNQTq-LITMWRAMER, WASHINGTON. D, c.

2 Sheets-Sheet W. SPILLMANE Bullet Machine.

' I Patented Nov. 19, 1867.

@niteh tater. {3mm @ffirr.

-W. SPILLMAN, OF MARION STATION, MISSISSIPPI.

Letters Patent No. 71,075, dated November 19, 1867.

IMPROVED BULLET MACHINE.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, W. SPILLMAN, of Marion Station, in the county ofLanderdale, and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and improvedBullet Machine and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled inthe art to make and use tlle'same, reforcnce being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a. side view of the device for forming spherical bullets. I

Figure 2 is a top view of the machine, showing the devices for formingspherical and conical bullets.

Figure 3 is avertical section taken in the line a: x, fig. 2.

Figure 4, a vertical section taken in the line 3 3 fig. 2.

Figure 5, a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to improved devices for forming bullets or miniballs, and consists in revolving disks or rollers, having one or moreeccentric grooves cut inthe'face of their peripheries, in combinationwith cams and impinging-rollers or stationary dies, so constructed andarranged as to compress and shape cylindrical sections of lcad,-fed intothe machine, as to form spherical or conical balls, as desired.

Ais a strong frame for the supportof the machinery required. The devicesfor making spherical and conical balls differ somewhat in construction,but both are shown connected in the same machine in the drawings, fig.2. On the shaft S S, operated by hand-crank B or power, are hung therevolving rollers for compressing the bullets. For making round bullets,a roller, 0, is hung on the shaft S S, and its periphery is grooved withone or more grooves, as desired, the groove commencing at some point ofthe circumference quite shallow, and as wide as the cylinder of leadwhich is to form the bullet is long, and gradually narrowing in widthand increasing in depth, until it reaches about three-quarters of thecircumference from the starting-point, when i the groove becomessemicircular, and of the diameter of the bullet to be formed, whichsemicircular shape is continued around the periphery of the rollers, tothe place of beginning. On one side of thecircumfercnce of the roller 0is placed a stationary die, D, which fits around the roller, with acorresponding groove beginning wide at the top, to receive thecylindrical piece of lead, and gradually narrowing and deepening untilnear the bottom of the, stationary die, when the groove also becomessemicircular, to match the semicircular part of the groove in the roller0. At the upper side of the machine a feed-tube, a, is placediat oneside, through which round bars of lead are fed into the formingrollerand die. The bar of lead is cut off the proper length by a shear-knife,Z1, attached to a shaft, E, which is worked by a. rod, 0, connected withan eccentric, F, placed on the side of the frame, and on the shaft S S.The knife 5 cuts off a piece oflcad while the roller C is rotating, toform the bullet. This piece of lead is held in a. recess by means of acatch, '01, until the forming=roller 0 comes around to the point readyto receive it, when the catch is tripped by a tappet, e, on thecircumference of the eccentric F. As soon as the tappet 8 passes, a.spring, g, throws the catch into place itgain, ready to receive and holdanother piece of lead to form the next bullet. The catch (1 operates bya flap in the receiis, below the shear-knife b, and above the roller Cand the die D. When the roller 0 is revolved, a cylindrical piece oflead drops between it and the upper side of the stationary die D. Themotion of the roller turns the lead around andforms the bullet or ball.The ends of the cylinder arc first pressed, owing to the form of thegrooves at that point, and gradually the pressure increases by theconverging tendency of the grooves, until, by the rapid rotation of thepiece of lead, it becomes perfectly spherical bctweenthe semicircularportions'of the roller 0 and the die, D, and the finished bullet isdischarged below, It is obvious that the periphery of the roller 0 maybe cut into a number of grooves, as shown in fig. 5, to form a. numberof bullets at the same time.

For making conical bullets or mini balls, a. similar roller, 0', has itsperiphery formed with aconcave face, beginning at a certain pointshallow, and gradually assuming the form required to shape the surfaceof a mini ball, as shown in the drawings. At the upper part of themachine, where, as before, a piece of the bar of lead is cut off from afeed-tube, a, two rollers, G G, are hung in the end of a bentlever, H,facing tberoller O. The rollers G G have their faces curved to the shapeof a mini ball, and the surface of the lower roll, G, is scored orchecked diagonally, to hold the lead firmly as it bears against themwhen the ball is forming. The surface of the concave forming-surfaceofthe roller 0. is also checked or scored diagonally. For cutting off thepiece of lead to make a mini ball, a simple device is adopted, bysharpening one side of the roller 0, which is formed by the gradualcurve of the periphery to fit the bullet," so that the bar of lead issevered by the edge of the roller while it revolves. The rollers G G areregulated in their pressure bya cam, L on the side of the forming-rollerC, which bears against one end of the.bei1t lever H, in connection witha spring, Iz,.fig. 3. The face of the cam I is so formed that therollers G G are placed at their maximum distance from the formingrollerC at the beginning of the operation in making a bullet, and aregradually brought towards the roller, as the operation proceeds, topress the lead into shape, until the ball is finished, inthe same manneras before described in making a spherical bullet whcn thc rollers recedeto admit another piece of load, and the operation is repeated. Betweenthe rollers G- G', on one side, is fixed a former-point or projection,i, for making the cavity in the rear of themini'e ball, It has a cuttingedge, to remove any excess of lead, and make the bullet smooth. Infig. 4is shown a modified arrangement for making mini balls, a cam, is,encompassing the formingroller C, being substituted for the rollers G G,which cam is enclosed in a sliding box, L, that is shifted from side toside by the cam I, to form the bullet, as before. I

Having described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. The combination and arrangement of the forming-rollerC, the stationary die D, and the eccentric F, constructed and operatingsubstantially as and for the purposeherein described.

2. The shear-knife b, operated by the eccentric F, combined with thecatch d, operated by the tappet e and a the spring g, as and for thepurpose specified. v I

3. The forming-roller 0, combined with the rollers G'G, the bent leverH, the camI, and the spring a, l constructed and operating substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

The above specification of my invention si'gncd'by me this 29th day ofJuly,-1867. W. 'SPILLMAN. Witnesses:

A. WESTBROOK, D. W. FORD.

